ROBERT DE NIRO - MOVIE REVIEWS RIGHTEOUS KILL

MOVIE REVIEWS RIGHTEOUS KILL

Critics are welcoming the reteaming of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino even if they have few kind words to say about the plot of their latest movie, Righteous Kill . The film, writes Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times is mostly about watching De Niro and Al Pacino share serious screen time for the first time in their All-Star careers." (They have appeared in the same movies in the past but have had few scenes together.) Roeper awards the movie three stars, explaining, "Taken purely on its merits as a psychological thriller, "Righteous Kill" is probably a two-star film. The third star is there strictly for De Niro and Pacino. Playing off each other, they stir up the ghosts of past greatness." Manohla Dargis in the New York Times is less generous in her appraisal. Righteous, she comments, is "a B-movie (more like C-minus) duet that probably sounded like a grand idea when [the two stars'] handlers whispered it in their ears." Lou Lumenick in the New York Post said that the film "would have been shipped straight to the remainder bin at Blockbuster if it starred anyone else." And in the Toronto Star, Bruce DeMara writes that while the teaming of De Niro and Pacino "should be cause for celebration," the film itself does not "make a whole lot of sense. In the end, we're stuck with a plot about as creaky as a porch swing on a windy day."

12/09/2008